Keeping the story straight

Last night at the BRAvo show, my oncologist commented on how hard he works to keep his patients' stories straight. My ears perked up at this, because much of my scholarly research and writing has focused on the power of narrative to bring a measure of healing to communities torn asunder. I look at Holocaust literature, postcolonial literature, African-American literature--literature produced by peoples violently disconnected from family, place, or heritage--and I examine the stories these communities construct to restore connection to a shattered past.

Now I wonder: how much does cancer treatment consist of helping patients pick up the pieces of their shattered life stories and reassemble them in a meaningful manner? The cancer story is a genre unto itself, thriving online and in popular books and magazines, and I know that writing about my experience with cancer helps me make sense of a senseless situation. I don't have much control over what's going on in my body these days, but at least I can contain my cancer within a box of words.

So I know that turning cancer into a coherent narrative is an important element in my healing, but now I wonder what role doctors play in helping patients understand and assemble their new stories. A cancer diagnosis introduces a new plot twist, violently cutting narrative threads and bringing the ending into question, but one thing I really appreciate about the cancer center is that they don't view patients as bundles of symptoms to be processed through the system as quickly as possible but rather as whole people whose diseases present not just intellectual challenges but visceral and emotional and spiritual tests as well. Doctors who see their patients as complex stories rather than disconnected symptoms and who work hard to keep those stories straight could provide the impetus the patient needs to assemble a new and meaningful story in the midst of incomprehensible disease and discomfort.

Besides, I've always been a sucker for a good story...doctors who care about my story make me want to hang around to see how the story ends.